| THE
GANGS OF NEW YORK,
written by Herbert Asbury, was used as the basis for the movie
GANGS of NEW YORK, a gangster film directed by Martin Scorsese
and starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio. Filmed
in Rome, Gangs covers a period of New York City's history, from
the 1840's through to the bloody Draft Riots of 1863, at a time
when graft and corruption permeated every level of government
including the police department.
The movie's main plot revolves around revenge and the feuding
between the gangs controlling the Bowery and the Five Points
area of lower Manhattan and culminates with the Civil War
draft riots. The two major political parties, Tammany Hall
(Democratic based) and the Native Americans (Know-Nothing
Party), used gangs as enforcers for the plundering of public
funds and to gain control of the city. The movie is a fictional
drama loosely based on actual historical events and figures.
The depictions in the movie showing the discrimination against
the Irish immigrants, the draft riots and the backdrop of
New York City circa 1860's were fairly representative of real
events. The script writers rearranged history in order to
present as many interesting characters and events as is possible
within a two hour and 40 minute time frame. The characters
in the movie were either fictional, such as Jenny Everdeane
(Cameron Diaz), Amsterdam Vallon (Leo DiCaprio) and Priest
Vallon (Liam Neeson), or fictionalized versions of real people.
The feel and flavor of New York City during the middle 1800's
was captured by the movie through the use of excellent cinematography
and the creation of a movie set based on actual photographs
of the real Five Points.
Four of the main characters: William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting
(Daniel Day-Lewis), Boss Tweed (Jim Broadbent), Happy Jack
(John C. Reilly), and Monk McGinn (Brendan Gleeson) were based
on actual people but they existed in different time frames.
William Cutting was based on William Poole "Bill the Butcher",
a real butcher with a shop in Washington Market, who lived
in New York City from 1832 until his murder in 1855 by Lew
Baker. The real William did not have a glass eye with an eagle
on it and did not directly kill anyone although he may have
maimed a few men. He resided in a nice little brownstone on
Christopher Street (outside of the Five Points) and for a
brief period, owned his own saloon, on the corner of Howard
and Broadway. For more information on William's background,
click on William Poole's
background (Bill The Butcher).
The character of Happy Jack was based on Happy Jack Mulraney,
a volatile and murderous member of the Gophers, who had a
permanent grin on his face due to partial paralysis of the
facial muscles. Happy Jack was very sensitive about his deformity
and murdered a saloon owner, Paddy the Priest, for making
a casual remark about his one-sided grin. The Gophers existed
around the late 1890's and early 1900's and were contemporaries
of Monk Eastman and Paul Kelly (Paolo Vaccarelli). The Gopher's
territory was in the part of Manhattan known as Hell's Kitchen
and covered the area from 7th to 11th avenues and from 14th
to 42nd streets. Owney Madden, an emigrant from Liverpool,
England, was once a Gopher commander of the faction known
as the Tenth Street Gang. Owney would go on to become co-owner
of the Cotton Club in Harlem and one of New York City's kingpins
of bootlegged liguor during Prohibition.
Monk McGinn (Brendan Gleeson) was based on Monk Eastman (Edward
Osterman), a Jewish gangster, who was born around 1873 in
Brooklyn and died in New York City in 1920, murdered by a
corrupt Prohibition enforcement agent (not by Bill the Butcher).
Monk had his own gang, called the Eastmans, of more than twelve
hundred warriors. For more information on Monk, click on Monk
Eastman.
Boss Tweed, played by Jim Broadbent, is the only character
in the movie who comes closest to portraying an actual historical
figure within the movie's time frame. William "Boss" Tweed
was born in 1823 in New York City's lower east side and was
a brawler and school dropout. He became foreman of the Big
Six Fire Engine Company (not the Black Joke Fire Engine Company)
and used fire fighting as a means to get into politics. He
was first elected to the Board of Aldermen, and then to Congress.
He rose through the political ranks and over time gained control
of Tammany Hall's political machine and was able to control
all of the Democratic New York state and city nominations
from 1860 to 1870. Although Tweed and his crooked compadres,
the infamous "Tweed Ring" , were corrupt and plundered public
funds, some of the projects, such as improved water supplies
and sewage disposal, benefited New Yorkers. William Tweed's
graft, brought to the public's attention by the cartoonist
Thomas Nast, eventually caused his downfall and he died in
jail in 1878.
The source for some of the slang used in the movie came from
George Matsell's "The Secret Language of Crime: The Rogue's
Lexicon", 1859. Here are translations for some of the terms
used: Ballum rancum: A ball where all the dancers are thieves
or prostitutes; Crusher: policeman; Lay: a criminal occupation;
and Mort: a woman. For more 1800's "gangsta slang", click
on the fictional vignette Bill
the Butcher. The main source used by the movie in replicating
the accent and speech patterns of the nineteenth century came
from a recording made in 1892 by the now deceased poet, Walt
Whitman. The result is a sort of Brooklyn "cabby" accent.
BACKGROUND ON FIVE POINTS: The most wretched of New
York City's slums in the 1800's was an area called Five Points,
named for the five points created by the intersection of Anthony
(now Worth), Orange (now Baxter), and Cross (now Park) Streets.
The area formed a "truncated triangle about one mile square"
and was "bounded by Canal Street, the Bowery, Chatham" (now
Park Row), "Pearl, and Centre Streets."1 Paradise
Square, a small triangular park, was located between Anthony
(now Worth) and Cross (now Park) Streets and converged into
Orange Street (now Baxter). These slums no longer exist, having
been replaced by city, state, and federal courthouses and
the area known as Chinatown.
The origins of Five Points began around 1802 with a landfill
that covered a foul pit of chemical and animal waste. In the
1700's lower Manhattan contained a large lake filled with an
abundance of fish and surrounded by wild marsh lands teaming
with birds and other wildlife. The lake became known as the
Collect Pond and was very popular with fishermen and local residents
who would picnic along the shores in the summer and skate on
the ice in winter. It was a lovely place until the tanneries,
breweries, and slaughterhouses moved in and caused massive pollution
and contamination of the lake's water. In 1802 the city's Street
Commissioner recommended that the Collect be drained and filled
in due to the stench and health problems caused by the pollution.
The
Collect landfill was completed by around 1812 and by 1813,
the streets were laid out and the land speculators moved in,
building two and one-half story wooden structures. Many were
occupied by artisans and tradesmen who combined their home
and business into one dwelling. Coulter's Brewery, one of
the original industries, remained after the Collect was filled
and continued to brew beer until 1837 when it was converted
into a tenement, called the Old Brewery. Industries such as
glue factories and turpentine distilleries joined Coulter's
on the newly created landfill.
Five
Points was considered a poor but respectable part of lower Manhattan
until around 1820. The decay into a slum was helped by several
events: a shift from handcrafted goods to mass production of
goods, a huge influx of poor immigrants, and landowners subdividing
buildings without regard for safety or sanitation. Factories
mass produced goods such as clothes, shoes and other items at
a cheaper cost, undercutting the individual tradesmen. The apprenticeship
system which provided room, board, and steady work for children
learning the trades disappeared. Children of working-class families
who normally would be kept busy learning a supervised trade
were left free to wander the streets. Many of the artisans and
tradesmen moved out of the area and were replaced by Irish and
German immigrants. As the population of Five Points swelled
with new immigrants, landowners or their agents found it very
profitable to subdivide and add on to their wooden structures.
The buildings were carved into tiny apartments, many were the
size of a small bedroom and windowless. The bottom floor of
each building frequently housed a saloon, groggery (combination
of groceries and cheap liquor), or brothel. The buildings were
referred to as tenant houses' or tenements and were crammed
with immigrants, returning a hefty profit to the landlords or
sublandlords.
Unfortunately,
the instability of the landfill under the tenements caused
the buildings to partially sink and become prematurely old.
Basements (many inhabited by immigrants) and streets frequently
flooded when it rained, creating a damp, decaying, and unhealthy
atmosphere. Most of the streets were not connected to sewers
and people used basement or outdoor privies which were rarely
cleaned and constantly overflowed, filling backyards with
human excrement which in turn flowed to the streets, and joined
up with the tons of horse manure and leftover industrial waste.
These filthy conditions plus contaminated water contributed
to the high death rate in Five Points. According to the AICP
(Association for Improving the Conditions of the Poor), based
on data from the years 1850 to 1860, seventy percent of the
children under the age of two died each year. Pulmonary diseases,
poor nutrition, cholera, and typhus epidemics took a heavy
toll. Many infants died from drinking foul milk which was
extracted from diseased cows by unscrupulous profit seeking
dairy owners. Once the diseased cows died, they were doctored
up and sold for meat.
Into
the morass of Five Points, the poor immigrants arrived, many
without any resources or means of employment. Irish immigrants,
from the worst of the potato famine, arrived in New York City
dressed in rags, malnourished and in poor health and took
the cheapest quarters available. Families usually settled
in decrepit tenements such as the Old Brewery, Jacob's Ladder,
Gates of Hell, Cow Bay, and Mulberry Bend where they were
lucky to have a single room for themselves. The single men
and women frequently settled into boardinghouses or lodging
rooms which ranged from indescribably filthy cellar rooms,
where as many as twenty people slept on straw in one room,
to modest, but clean establishments with beds.
Boarding
house runners, friendly men speaking with the same accent
as the new arrivals, would board the boats after they docked,
and welcome the more affluent looking immigrant with offers
to lodge at at a particular establishment. Once the new lodger
settled in, he was charged exorbitant rates and if he could
not pay, his luggage was confiscated. In many instances, it
was a case of the older immigrant cheating the newer arrival.
Life
was very difficult for many families and just surviving from
day to day often required that all members of the family bring
in money, by whatever means. Resorting to crime or prostitution
was at times the only way to exist. Children earned money
by working on the streets as bootblacks, as street sweepers
clearing the intersections of muck in exchange for tips from
pedestrians, and as "little merchants" hawking goods such
as matches, newspapers, produce, and sometimes themselves.
Alcoholism was rampant and frequently the children's earnings
paid for filling the "growler", a pail used to fetch beer
from the local groggery or saloon. Left to fend for themselves,
many children roamed the streets, joined up with gangs, and
were destined to become prostitutes or felons.
The
miserable conditions of Five Points became known to the outside
world and reformers such as Lewis N. Pease, Rev. Samuel Halliday,
the Methodist missionary ladies, and Jacob Riis, with his
empathetic style of journalistic photography, worked diligently
to improve life for the slum's inhabitants. Five Points' notorious
reputation became so well known that notables such as Davey
Crockett, Abraham Lincoln, and Charles Dickens paid the slums
a visit. Lincoln was quite moved by the plight of Five Point's
children and applauded Lewis Pease and his House of Industry's
efforts to house, clothe, feed, and educate them.
The
celebrated Davey Crockett and literary figures such Charles
Dickens, Herman Melville, and Walt Whitman toured the saloons,
groggeries, brothels, dance halls, and gambling halls in order
to witness first hand the depravity of Five Points. The raucous
theater and wild dance halls of the Bowery became the popular
place to go "slumming" and to see how the other half lives.
Dickens ventured deep into the depths of Five Points with
two police escorts and wrote about his experience in American
Notes.
"This
is the place; these narrow ways diverging to the right and
left, and reeking everywhere with dirt and filth. Such lives
as are led here, bear the same fruit here as elsewhere. The
coarse and bloated faces at the doors have counterparts at
home and all the world over. Debauchery has made the very
houses prematurely old. See how the rotten beams are tumbling
down, and how the patched and broken windows seem to scowl
dimly, like eyes that have been hurt in drunken frays."...."Where
dogs would howl to lie men and women and boys slink off to
sleep, forcing the disloged rats to move away in quest of
better lodgings. Here, too, are lanes and alleys paved with
mud knee-deep; underground chambers where they dance and game."
Dicken sums up Five Points with the remark: "all that is loathsome,
drooping, and decayed is here." Although Dickens was very
critical of Five Points, he did enjoy a visit to Almacks,
later referred to as Pete Williams' place, a black American
dance hall. Dickens was intrigued by the dance skills of William
Henry Lane who combined the shuffle with an Irish jig. This
style was called a break-down and became the forerunner of
modern tap dancing.
Walt
Whitman, the poet, identified with the "rowdies" of Manhattan
and was particularly entranced with the Bowery Boy culture
and their style of dress and slang. The Bowery was the center
of entertainment for the single men of the working-class and
they came from all parts of New York City, not just the Five
Points. Bill the Butcher was a former Bowery Boy. After work,
the butchers, firemen, and other working-class men would don
their fancy duds consisting of stovepipe hat topping well-oiled
locks, red shirt, black flared trousers, silk vest and cravat,
and high-heeled calfskin boots, and head for the Bowery's
theaters, dance halls and brothels. Without family responsibilities,
the "B'hoys" had enough money to spend on entertainment. Most
of the Bowery boys were native born and were very patriotic
and loved adventure. Many of them belonged to gangs such as
the American Guards or the Bowery Boys' gang. However, A working-class
male might adopt the Bowery style but not belong to a particular
gang.
Many
factors contributed to an increase in the number of gangs
in New York City during the 1800's, especially the Five Points
area. The major factors were: the huge number of immigrants
with different nationalities; the resentment of native born
Americans towards the newcomers; poor living conditions; young
single immigrants seeking identity and protection in a sometimes
hostile environment; and the patronage system of rewarding
favors with jobs. The setting was ripe for the proliferation
of gangs and corrupt politicians. The grocery speak-easies
or groggeries provided meeting places for the gangs. Many
of the saloons, gambling houses, places of prostitution, and
dance houses were owned by political leaders who utilized
the "special" talents of the gangs. The lines between gangs
and political parties were very blurred. Both the Whigs and
the Democrats used gangs to bring in the votes and to cause
disruption within the opposing parties.
William
Poole, Bill The Butcher, was a Whig and later became a member
of the Native American or Know-Nothing party (anti-catholic
and anti-immigrant). Bill was cheftain of his own Washington
Street gang and on election day, Bill and his thugs would
be stationed at the polling place in order to commandeer votes
for the Whigs. Their methods were violent and they frequently
used "repeaters", people who voted more than once. While Bill
was "soliciting" votes for his party, Morrissey and his thugs
were convincing voters, especially the Irish immigrants, to
vote for the Democratic party (Tammany Hall) candidate. Both
sides were violent at the polling place and frequently battled
with each other. The gangs were repaid by the political parties
or governmental authorities with offers of choice jobs, money
or by allowing the gangsters to run their vices without harassment
from the police.
The gangs
were mainly territorial, ethnic based and centered around two
areas of the Five Points: the heart of the Five Points and the
Bowery. The gangs with headquarters in the heart of Five Points
were the Forty Thieves, Kerryonians, Shirt Tails, Plug Uglies,
Roach Guards and Dead Rabbits and were Irish. Some of the gangs
identified themselves with special clothes or colors. The Roach
Guards wore blue striped pantaloons, the Plug Uglies sported
enormous plug hats, and the Dead Rabbits wore red stripes. The
gangs sometimes fought each other and sometimes banded together
to fight with the Bowery Boys or the American Guards (native
born).
The
Irish gangs centered in the Bowery were the True Blue Americans
(wearing black frock coats and stovepipe hats), O'Connell
Guards, and Atlantic Guards. The Bowery Boys and American
Guards had headquarters in the Bowery and in general were
allied with the Whigs or Native American party. The Irish
gangs tended to support the Democratic party (Tammany Hall)
Succeeding
gangs became more organized and committed crimes outside their
territories. The Whyos, named because of a bird-like call
utilized by the gangsters, were one of the most vicious gangs
of the 1880's and were the first to advertise a price list
for services involving blackjacking, mayhem and murder. The
prices ranged from two dollars for a simple punching to murder
for one hundred dollars and up.
After
the Whyos, the two major gangs that rose to power were the
Five Pointers and the Eastmans whose combined membership totaled
almost three thousand gangsters. The Irish gangs were no longer
in control by the 1890's. The Five Pointers gang was ruled
by Paul Kelly (aka: Paolo Vaccarelli) , an Italian immigrant,
and their members came from all over New York City. The Eastmans
gang was ruled by Monk Eastman (aka: Edward Osterman), a Jewish
gangster born in Brooklyn. Their sources of income were derived
from stuss games (a form of card game), political engagements,
houses of prostitution, blackjacking services, and the operations
of pickpockets, footpads, and loft burglars. Tammany Hall
frequently engaged the services of both gangs to bring in
the votes at election time. Click on
Monk Eastman and Paul Kelly for more information. In return,
Tammany Hall bailed out both Monk and Kelly whenever they
got arrested. The symbiotic relationship continued until around
1905 when public outcry over the constant feuding and gunfights
between the two gangs led to their downfall. Monk was thrown
in Sing Sing and Kelly moved his operations to Harlem and
Brooklyn where he became involved in labor unions and fighting
for control of the shipping docks.
Paul
Kelly's Five Pointers was a training camp for some of America's
most notorious mobsters such Frankie Yale, Johnny Torrio and
Al Capone. With the arrival of Prohibition, a new era of organized
crime was created. Click on Five
Pointers, antecedents of organized crime.
Five
Point's reign as one of the world's worst slums came to an
end by around 1900, thanks to reformers such as Jacob Riis
and his publication How the Other Half Lives which
focused attention on conditions in the tenements. During its
reign as the King of slums, tens of thousands of immigrants
settled into crowded, filthy, and decayed tenements, struggling
daily to build a new life. Ultimately, many moved on to better
housing and jobs and were replaced by the next wave of immigrants.
The Irish dominated the Five Points until the massive immigration
of Italians from mostly southern Italy and Sicily in the 1880's.
Each new wave of immigrants was subject to discrimination
by the previous immigrants. The Chinese and Asians were the
last to settle into Five Points.
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